$150,000 Deschutes County settlement with prosecutor brings to light gender disparity; county denies allegations
(Update: Adding video, comments from DA)
County denies gender discrimination allegations, DA shares support
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ)-- Deschutes County has reached a $150,000 settlement with Deputy District Attorney Alison Filo. It comes after she filed a lawsuit against the county last year, accusing them of gender discrimination.
The county has denied the allegations, saying in a statement Tuesday to KTVZ News: "The County denies any discriminatory conduct on the part of the County and any of its officials/employees as alleged by Ms. (Alison) Filo and further denies that there is a systemic pay equity issue based on gender at Deschutes County."
According to documents obtained by KTVZ News and verified by Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels, Alison Filo alleged that the county Human Resources Department’s method of hiring and establishing salaries was discriminatory.
Filo told us she learned she was being paid less than her male co-workers with similar experience.
Gunnels said Tuesday, "She was correct, in my view, that she was paid at a lower scale than she should have been paid, based on her experience. And I'm really grateful that the county worked with her to resolve that issue. "
According to Gunnels, candidates with experience in other states are at a significant disadvantage when seeking a position with the county. Filo has more than 20 years of experience as a prosecutor in Santa Clara County in California.
"The county only gives them 75% of their actual experience when they set the pay scale in Oregon," he said. "And in my view, that's unfair, because it takes away a lot of valuable experience that people have built up over their careers."
Former District Attorney John Hummel, who hired Filo in 2021, said in a statement to KTVZ News he did not set the salaries of the people who worked in the DA's office. Deschutes County Human Resources, the county commissioners and the county administrator were responsible for all salary decisions.
Hummel added that he was pleased with the results, if she was underpaid.
Filo's case was also mentioned by county Commissioner Phil Chang last week during two hours of public comment, after the commission dissolved its Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access (DEIA) committee.
"If we did the work that this committee was focused on, maybe we could prevent having these kinds of conflicts and claims within our organization, which would save us money," Chang said.
The county also conducted an equal pay audit last year, which found that wage gaps existed at the organizational level.
Data shared shows white men earned $20,000 more in compensation than white women. The report also stated the county was in the process of implementing an equal-pay analysis that is expected to be finished by this spring.
Below is the settlement filing:
